Pentagon acquisitions chief Frank Kendall has said he wants the Joint Chiefs of Staff to have a greater role in efforts to build the military acquisition workforce and manage program budgets, Federal News Radio reported Monday.
Jared Serbu writes Kendall told reporters after his speech at a National Defense Industrial Association conference that he believes a statutory change is not necessary for service chiefs to participate in the defense acquisition process.
“I need to talk to the chiefs more about this, but I think there’s a perception that they’re excluded from acquisition more than they actually are,” he added, according to the radio station.
Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, aims to include language in the next defense authorization bill to give top uniformed officers authority on buying activities, the station said.
However, Kendall thinks the service chiefs should not get deeply involved in making decisions regarding program structures and contract development and risk mitigation, according to Serbu’s article.
